Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World

Aaron could hear the loud gunshot from Gideon’s side of the mine, and he immediately knew something had gone wrong.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a place to communicate with him, at least now. And he was sure Gideon could handle whatever happened on his side.

That man clearly wasn’t a human but not so of a monster.

"Lead! What should we do?"

Eric’s voice pulled his attention back. One knee was pressed against Victor’s back while both hands twisted the man’s arm behind him, keeping him pinned to the ground.

Victor struggled beneath him, the larger man’s body still strong enough to hurt someone if he managed to break free.

Aaron looked past them.

One of his men was already dead. The body lay only a few meters away, eyes wide open and a fresh gunshot wound still bleeding onto the strange ground.

The tunnel didn’t even look like a tunnel anymore.

The muddy floor had been replaced by something resembling pale grass, while the walls were covered in the same white growth.

Strange sacs hung from the ceiling, some of them slowly pulsing, while several wet globs rested on the ground.

They looked like something between plants and animals, their surfaces glistening beneath the flashlight beams and the way they shine... It was so disturbing.

And that was the reason for their misery.

Five minutes.

Only five minutes of walking through that strange place had been enough to turn a careful team into a disaster.

One man was dead, another was being restrained, and one was struggling and ended up running, lost, he didn’t know where they were now, he couldn’t catch them.

Aaron closed his eyes for a moment. "Just tie him up, Eric. If he keeps fighting, knock him unconscious. Do whatever you need to keep him from hurting anyone."

He opened his eyes again and looked toward the dead man.

"I’ll try to contact Jade."

His voice remained calm, even though he could feel his heartbeat pounding against his ribs.

Six minutes earlier, everything had still been normal.

The tunnel had been black and muddy, just like the rest of the mine. Then, without warning, the ground ahead began changing.

The entire team stopped.

"What the hell is that, Lead?" Victor asked. "I’ve never seen anything like this. Not in the Deliric Desert."

He raised his dark-vision goggles and examined the growth more closely.

Eric immediately shook his head. "Put those goggles back on. Whatever this is, it definitely isn’t something from the Deliric Desert. Most aberrants there resemble animals more than plants. This looks like something from Senduro Highland."

He pointed toward one of the strange growths. "That thing looks like a mushroom. I saw something similar when I was a kid."

Aaron studied it for several seconds before nodding. "Eric’s right. Goggles back on. Nobody touches anything."

Victor sighed and reached for his goggles.

Then they heard the voice.

"Aaron, honey..."

Everyone froze. The voice came from somewhere deeper inside the tunnel.

"Come back here. Our daughter is grown up now."

Aaron’s entire body went rigid. He knew that voice. It was his wife’s voice.

For a moment, the tunnel disappeared.

He could almost see her standing in the distance, smiling at him the way she used to. Beside her stood the daughter he had never been able to hold, the child who had never even been born.

His eyes began to water. He took one step forward. Then another.

Some of his men followed, their own faces changing as other familiar voices began calling their names from the darkness.

Aaron’s mind screamed at him to stop. His wife was dead. His daughter had never been born.

Yet the voice sounded exactly like her.

Then something dropped from the ceiling.

It struck the back of Aaron’s neck, cold, obviously a drop of water, catching against the ski mask and snapping him out of the illusion.

He immediately stumbled backward and raised his weapon.

"Don’t move!"

The others didn’t stop. Aaron stared into the darkness ahead, his breathing heavy.

Whatever was waiting for them wasn’t trying to attack immediately.

It was trying to lure them deeper. Like a siren calling sailors toward the rocks.

And Aaron suddenly understood that the thing inside this mine didn’t need to chase them.

It only needed to make them walk willingly into its mouth.

Aaron looked around. His men were already several meters ahead of him.

"Shit!"

He lunged forward and grabbed Nolan and Eric by their tactical vest, yanking them backward hard enough to send both of them crashing onto the ground.

Both men blinked rapidly as they hit the ground, shaking their heads as their expressions slowly cleared.

They looked at Aaron, finally realizing what had happened.

"Get them back!" Aaron ordered.

Eric and Nolan scrambled upright and immediately moved toward the others. Wade was still close enough for Eric to grab, but Victor was farther ahead.

He was taller and had a longer stride than the others, and by the time Aaron caught up and grabbed the back of his neck, Victor’s boot came down directly on one of the strange mushrooms.

The growth burst. A cloud of yellow mist exploded through the tunnel, spreading around them like pollen.

"Hold your breath! Put your goggles back on! We don’t know what this shit is or what it’ll do—"

Aaron’s warning was cut short when Victor’s fist slammed into his stomach.

"ARGHH!"

The impact drove the air from Aaron’s lungs and sent him stumbling backward before he crashed onto the ground. He barely had time to recover before Victor raised his rifle and started firing.

Eric and Nolan threw themselves aside.

Wade wasn’t fast enough. The shot struck him in the stomach, and he collapsed immediately.

Blood poured from the wound, soaking into the pale growth beneath him and turning a patch of the ground red.

"Wade!"

Eric moved faster than Aaron could. He rushed Victor, seized the rifle, and drove his fist into the man’s jaw. Victor staggered, but Eric didn’t give him a chance to recover.

Despite the difference in size, he slipped behind him, kicked the back of his knees, and forced the larger man down before pinning him with one knee against his back.

"Stay down, you bastard!"

Victor struggled beneath him, but the fight was already leaving his body.

Another scream tore through the tunnel.

"ARGHHHH!"

Aaron’s head snapped toward Nolan.

The man’s eyes were wide open. The whites had turned blood red, and thin streams of blood ran from the corners like tears.

Nolan clawed at his own hair, pulling hard enough to rip out entire strands while screaming incoherently.

"Damn it, Nolan! Wake up!" Aaron shouted.

He pushed himself upright, ready to rush over and knock Nolan unconscious before the man could hurt himself.

But Nolan suddenly sprang to his feet and ran straight into the darkness.

His arms were raised above his head as if he were surrendering to someone waiting ahead, his movements unnaturally fast despite the bullet wound in his stomach.

"Nolan!" Aaron chased after him for several steps before stopping.

The darkness swallowed the man’s figure. There was no response. Only the distant sound of his footsteps fading deeper into the mine.

He stood frozen for a moment before looking back at Eric, who was still restraining Victor.

Aaron opened his eyes again and found Victor already unconscious. Eric had tied the man’s hands and feet neatly, just as he always did, although Aaron could see the slight tremor in his hands as he tightened the final knot.

Only two of them were still standing.

Less than ten minutes after entering the mine, their team had been reduced to two.

Aaron grabbed the walkie-talkie from his waist and switched it on, immediately trying to contact Jade or Kilian.

Static crackled through the speaker before a familiar voice finally answered.

"Alpha Team, report."

"Jade, it’s Aaron."

His voice was controlled, but his breathing was still heavy.

"We found it. The hive mind is definitely here, and it’s already affecting us. We’ve lost two men. One is dead, another is missing, and Victor is unconscious after attacking us. Whatever is inside this mine can manipulate our perception and possibly our minds."

There was a brief silence on the other end. Aaron continued before she could respond.

"Start the evacuation now. Don’t wait for the thirty-minute mark. Get everyone away from the western section and keep the residents moving toward the safest perimeter you have."

Kilian’s voice suddenly broke through the radio.

"Aaron, how bad is it?"

"Bad enough that you need reinforcements. Send them now, but don’t send everyone underground. We don’t know what this thing can do, and I don’t want more men walking into the same trap."

Jade came back through the static. "Understood. We’ll begin the evacuation and send another team to support you."

Aaron looked toward the darkness where Wade had disappeared.

"Make it fast. I don’t know where this thing ends, but we’re not dealing with a normal parasite anymore."

He lowered the walkie-talkie for a moment, then looked at Eric.

The younger man was still staring into the tunnel, his rifle held tightly against his chest.

Aaron took a slow breath. "Stay close. From now on, don’t trust anything you see or hear unless we confirm it together."

Eric nodded.

Aaron switched the walkie-talkie back to the channel and listened to the static for another second before securing it against his vest.

Then he turned toward the darkness. "We’re going after Wade. Then whatever is in front of us."

Eric swallowed, but nodded again.

The two men moved deeper into the mine.

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